Stitch regulator



Nov. 7, W61 (2. T. SMITH STITCHREGULATOR Q 9 INVENTOR C.T. SMITH av mATTORNEY Nov. 7, 1961 c. T. SMITH fi 3 STITCH REGULATOR Filed Aug. 15,1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR C .T. SMITH I a e, I

I ATTORNEY Nov. 7, 1961 c. T. SMITH STITCH REGULATOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 5Filed Aug. 15, 1958 asi was INVNTOR C.T. SMITH I A TTORNE Y Nov. 7, 1961c. T. SMITH 3,007,325

STITCH REGULATOR Filed Aug. 15, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 3/ 4/ [N MENTOR C.1". SMITH [61/ ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofiice 3,097,325 PatentedNov. 7, 1961 3,007,325 STITCH REGULATQR Charles T. Smith, Nashville,Tenn, assignor, by mesne assignments, to Morpul, Inc, Greensboro, N.C.Filed Aug. 15, 1958, Ser. No. 755,277 3 Claims. (Cl. 66--9tl) Thisinvention relates to the manufacture of commodities of various kindsincluding the production of knitted fabrics and to the machinery andequipment by which such fabrics are manufactured or produced.

The invention is concerned particularly with circular knitting in whichindependently operated needles are used, with the amount of stretch ofthe articles knitted, and with the modification of the knittingprocesses to provide dififerent looseness or amount of stretch in theknitted articles as well as with the equipment employed in the knittingoperations, and most especially with the production of certain types ofknitted fabric having a looseness or amount of stretch beyond thecapacity of the conventional knitting machine, as the top portion ofcertain hosiery, and the means for producing the same.

Heretofore in the knitting processes certain ditficulties have beenencountered resulting in an unsatisfactory end product from theviewpoint of quality and cost of production. In the manufacture ofcertain types of loosely knit fabric, and certain knitted fabrics usingboth regular yarn and an elastic yarn where the body yarns are knit overthe sinkers and the elastic yarn is laid in on the sinkers as in theconventional knitting machine considerable difficulty has beenencountered in producing stitches in the body yarn of the desiredlooseness. Also difliculty has been experienced in laying the elasticyarn in sufliciently loose.

It is an object of the invention to overcome difiiculties on the orderof those enumerated and to improve prior practices by providing aneasily adjustable stitch regulator whereby the looseness of the bodyyarn stitches and the looseness of the elastic yarn courses can beeasily and simply varied to suit requirements.

Another object of the invention is to provide simple and inexpensiveauxiliary mechanism in the form of stitch regulating means associatedwith knitting by being applied to the cylinder of a knitting machine ina manner to regulate the stitch length of the body yarns and the tensionof the elastic yarn courses.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective of the head of a knitting machine to which thepresent invention has been applied;

FIG. 2, a layout of the cam and needle arrangement in conjunction withthe stitch regulator of the present invention;

FIG. 3, a diagrammatic view illustrating the manner of use of the stitchregulator in conjunction with elastic thread;

FIG. 4, a diagrammatic view illustrating the manner of use of the stitchregulator in conjunction with body y FIG. 5, a fragmentary diagrammaticview of the knit ted product;

FIG. 6, a side elevation of the stitch regulator cam;

FIG. 7, a detailed perspective of the structure of FIG. 6 viewed fromthe opposite side;

FIG. 8, a fragmentary front elevation of a portion of a knitting machineillustrating the pattern drum, the main drum, and the pattern chain;

FIG. 9, a diagrammatic perspective illustrating the operation of theelastic jack lifting cam;

FIG. 10, a diagrammatic perspective of the operation of the elastic feedfinger;

FIG. 11, a diagrammatic perspective of the opera tion of the stitchregulator cam;

FIG. 12, a diagrammatic view showing the stitch regulator in inoperativeposition; and

FIG. 13, a diagrammatic view showing the stitch regulator in operativeposition.

Briefly stated, the present invention comprises a relatively thinadjustable stitch regulator for each of the independently operatedneedles of a conventional circular knitting machine employed in theproduction of hosiery and in which it is desired to incorporate anelastic thread in the knitting process. The stitch regulators which maybe mounted in grooves between each of the independently operatedneedles, have each a concavity in their upper surfaces for engaging thebody yarns and/ or the elastic yarn and a series of projections or buttsalong one side of their lower portion adapted to be engaged by cams,which cause the stitch regulators to move vertically to adjust thelength of stitch of the body yarns and also adjust the tension in theelastic yarn courses when the needles carrying the thread are depressedbelow the level of the stitch regulators. The looseness or the amount ofstretch of the finished article may be varied by changing the verticaldisposition of the stitch regulator raising cams.

With continued reference to the drawings, a knitting machine is providedwith a head having a cylinder 10 on which independently operated needles11 are mounted for knitting seamless socks or the like. The knittingmachine head is provided with the usual knitting cams such as switchearns 12 and 13, end earns 14 and 15, front and back stitch cams 16 and17, center guard cam 18 and widening and narrowing picks used in theknitting of the heel and toe portions. Also the head is provided with asinker cap 20, a body yarn feed finger 21, and operating arms or leversfor the various parts of the machine.

The top of a sock may have an elastic thread 22 interlaced with bodyyarn 23. The elastic thread 22 is fed through a feed finger 24 pivotallymounted on the head of the machine and is adapted to be moved into andout of operative position by a rod 25 pivotally attached to one end oflever 26 and such lever is supported by a pivot pin 27. The lever alsohas a downwardly extending finger 28 at its opposite end which engages acam 29 on the pattern drum.

. In order to regulate the stitch length in the body yarns and thetension in the elastic yarn courses a series of long, narrow,substantially fiat stitch regulators 30 and 31 are provided mounted inslots in the cylinder lit with alternate regulators 3d and 31 positionedbetween alternate needles 11. The regulators 39 and 31 have concavities32 in their upper surfaces which engage the body yarn 23 and the elasticthread 22. The regulators 30 and 31 are provided with outwardlyextending butts 33 at their lower extremities and butts 34 a portion ofthe way up their lengths. The regulators 30 have an additional butt 35adjacent to the butt 34 and between the butts 33 and 34.

Some of the needles 11 are provided with long narrow substantially flatjacks 36 and 37. The jacks 36 are provided with outwardly extendingshort butts 38 at their lower extremities and the jacks 37 are providedwith outwardly extending long butts 39 at their lower extremitiessubstantially in the same plane as the short butts 38.

A stitch regulator cam 49 is employed to cause upward movement of theregulators 30 and 31. Such stitch regulator cam, having inclinedsurfaces 41, is mounted on a slide block 42 vertically slidable in ahousing 43. The housing 43 is adapted to have a slot 44- in one sidewhich acts as a guide for the slide block 42 and prevents side movementthereof. The housing 43 has a slot 45 in the side opposite the slot 44and through which slot 45 extends a shaft 46 having a roller 47 mountedthereon outside the housing 43. Vertical movement of the slide block 42and the stitch regulator cam 40 is controlled by a relatively long slide48 having a reduced end portion 49 and a curved portion 50 connectingthe slide 48 and the reduced portion 49. The roller 47 normally engagesthe upper surfaces of the end portion 49 and in order to raise thestitch regulator cam 46 the slide 48 is moved forwardly which causes theroller .7 to roll upwardly along the curved portion t! until it restsupon the upper surface of the slide 48. When the stitch regulator cam 40is raised, the inclined surface 41 will be engaged by the butts 33 ofthe stitch regulators 3t) and 31 and cause upward movement thereof.

An elastic jack lifting cam 51 engages the butts 38 and 39 of the needlejacks and in certain phases of the operation will engage the butts 35 ofthe stitch regulators 39. The elastic jack lifting cam 51 is mounted ona shaft 52, which is slidable Within a housing 53 and normally is urgedforwardly by a spring 54 having one end mounted on a pin 55 in thehousing 53 and the other end on a pin 56 in the end of the shaft 52. Thecam 51 is held in retracted position by a pivotally mounted bell crank57, the upper end of which is in engagement With the pin 56 and thelower end of which is attached to a rod 58. The lower end of the rod 58is pivotally attached to one end of lever 59 such lever being supportedon a pivot pin 60 and the opposite end being adapted to have adownwardly extending finger 61 engaging a cam 62 on the pattern drum.

The slide 43 is operated by a bell crank 63 pivotally connected to a rod64 intermediate the ends thereof. The upper end of the rod 64 isconnected to one end of a pivoted lever 65 and the opposite end of suchlever supports a strip 66 on which is pivotally mounted a revolvingcircular brush or the like 67. The lower end of the rod 64 is pivotallyconnected to one end of a lever 68 supported by a pivot pin 69 and has adownwardly extending finger 70 on its opposite end engaged by cam 71 onthe pattern drum.

In the production of a sock, the front stitch cam is taken out ofoperation, and a series of courses of elastic thread are placed in thehooks of the knitting needles. The elastic jack lifting cam 51 is movedradially towards the cylinder sufficiently to engage the jacks 37 withthe long butts 39. Also the elastic jack lifting cam engages the butts35 of the stitch regulators 30 and the elastic feed finger 24 is movedinto operative position. The elastic jack lifting cam 51 causeselevation of alternate needles which engage the elastic thread 22stressed by stitch regulators 30 also actuated by the elastic jacklifting cam.

After the desired number of courses of elastic thread are placed in theneedles, the front stitch cam is returned to operative position, and thebody yarn feed finger 21 and stitch regulator cam 40 are moved intooperative position. The body yarn is then looped over the elasticthreads which are on the needles and a portion of the sock is knitted inwhich the body yarn is engaged by each of the needles, the elasticthread is engaged by alternate needles and both body yarn and elasticthread are knit over the top of the stitch regulators instead ofconventional sinkers.

After the desired number of courses are made in this manner, the elasticjack lifting cam 51 is moved as far as possible toward the center of thecylinder and the remainder of the top of the sock is knitted. Each ofthe needles 11 engages the body yarn to knit over the tops of the stitchregulators and part of the needles engage the elastic thread and part ofthem do not engage such elastic threads. The elastic threads do not formpart of the knitted loops but are merely laid in behind some of theloops of body yarn.

Half of the needles are adapted to be raised by the jacks 37, half ofthe remaining needles are adapted to be raised by jacks 36, and theremaining fourth of the needles do not have jacks. Outwardly extendingneedle butts 11 on each of the needles 11 are engaged by theconventional switch cams 12 and 13, end cams 14 and 15, front and backstitch cams 16 and 17, and center guard cams 18 to perform the knittingoperation of the body yarn.

In order to lay in the elastic thread in the main portion of the top ofthe sock, three needles 11 of each group of four needles are providedwith jacks 36 and 37 and the fourth needle 11 does not have a jack, thusthree needles of every four will be raised to engage the elastic thread22 and the fourth needle will pass under such elastic thread. When theneedles are again raised the elastic thread will be removed from theneedles and the needles will engage the body yarn to form the loops. Inthis loop forming operation three of the needles will be behind theelastic thread and the fourth needle, which did not engage the elasticthread, will be in front of such thread in forming the body yarn loop.In this manner the elastic thread is placed behind every fourth stitch.The spacing of the elastic thread with relation to the body yarn may bevaried merely by the addition or removal of the jacks 36 and 37.

The length of the body yarn stitches may be varied by raising the stitchregulator cam 40 to a lesser or greater height, and the tension on theelastic yarn courses may be varied by adjusting the height of stitchregulator cam 51.

During the knitting operation of this top portion of a sock the bodyyarns are knit over the tops of the stitch regulators, the conventionalsinkers serving only to hold down the knitted material while the needlesare being raised. After completion of this top portion of the sock thestitch regulators are lowered to an inoperative position and knitting isover the sinkers in the conventional manner during the remaining portionof the sock.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes maybe made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scopethereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which isillustrated in the drawings and described in the specification, but onlyas indicated in the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A circular knitting machine for knitting hosiery in which elasticthread is incorporated in at least a portion thereof and having separatebody yarn and elastic thread feeds, comprising a cylinder. a pluralityof independently operable needles mounted on said cylinder, knittingcams spaced about said cylinder to axially reciprocate said needles, astitch regulator mounted on said cylinder adjacent each of said needles,cam means for causing said stitch regulators to move axially and engagethe body yarn of said hosiery and control the length of the stitchformed therewith, separate cam means for causing said stitch regulatorsto move axially and engage said elastic thread to control the tensionthereof, said stitch regulator comprising a long narrow substantiallyflat member having a concavity in its upper surface to engage said bodyyarn and said elastic thread and having outwardly extending butts at itslower extremities for engaging said cam means to cause axial movement ofsaid stitch regulators.

2. The combination of a circular knitting machine for knitting hosieryin which elastic thread is incorporated in at least a portion thereofand having separate body yarn and elastic thread feeds, said machinehaving a cylinder and a plurality of independently operable knittingneedles mounted thereon and a long narrow substantially fiat stitchregulator adjacent each of the knitting needles, each of said stitchregulators having a concavity in its upper surface to engage said bodyyarn and said elastic thread and adapkd to @Operate with said needles togovern the 5 length ot' the stitch of the body yarn and to govern thetension of said elastic thread.

3. A circular knitting machine for knitting hosiery in Which elasticthread is incorporated in at least a portion thereof comprising acylinder, a plurality of independently operated needles axiallyreciprocable on said cylinder, knitting cams spaced about said cylinderto reciprocate said needles, a series of long narrow substantially flatstitch regulators having concavities in their upper surtaces associatedwith said needles, separate cam means to 10 operate said regulators inconjunction with said needles to control the length of the stitch formedby the body yarn and to control the tension of the elastic thread.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSSturgess Jan. 12, 1897 Scott Aug. 12, 1913 Howie Dec. 13, 1927 LawsonNov. 30, 1937 Boulais June 4, 1940 Davis July 2, 1940 Nobel May 18, 1943Yamada Oct. 4, 1955 Schun'ch Sept. 11, 1956 Op awa Apr. 15, 1958

